With my buddy Rex_Chrome we wondered for a long time about the most effective ammo. Was it worth to
mix ammo, i.e. AP to take off armor, and dum dum for the final kill ? Was it better to use HE to average the AP and dum dum
effect ? To settle the matter once for all, we decided to take a more scientific approach.

Test conditions

We designed a custom Balmoral called "the Sitting Duck" with 60 armor everywhere, and
a Devastator called "the Torpedo" with a set of

single .70 guns.We then ran a serie of tests with the 4 kinds of ammo available.For each ammo,
the Torpedo was to get wery close to the level-flying Sitting Duck and shoot him down with a continuous burst.
The duration of the burst was measured with a stopwatch, from the time the first bullet hit was heard till the final destruction
of the Sitting Duck. The test was repeated several times for each ammo, and the results were averaged.

The results

Here are the burst timings (in seconds) recorded for each ammo, with the final averages
:

ammo

slug

AP

HE

DD

run 1

6,3

13,3

6,5

3,5

run 2

6,5

14,2

7,6

4,3

run 3

6,1

13,8

6,9

4,2

run 4

6,4

15,2

7,3

4,0

run 5

6,2

14,2

7,0

4,1

run 6

6,2

15,2

7,3

3,9

average

6,3

14,3

7,1

4,0

feel free to downloadour test planes byclicking on their pictures

the Torpedo

the Sitting Duck

Conclusions

The figures are quite telling by themselves, aren't they ?The laughable ineffectiveness of AP came
as a surprise, as the slight advantage of slugs versus HE.Now consider this : in this test, the dum dum were at the biggest
disadvantage, since the armor was maxed out. Imagine the result on a plane already stripped bare or armor with a couple of
flak rockets...However, the dum dum are rather difficult to see, so it's hard to correct the aim with them. This is actually
the only possible use for AP rounds : they shine a bright red when fired, and are the best to learn deflection shooting. As
long as you are 3 times more accurate than with dum dums, we recomend these AP warmly:)

Proudly made by the self-proclamed leaders of the SPECS (Self-Proclamed
Eggheads of Crimson Skies)Rex_Chrome & CSE_CrashTest

Gun efficiency

Now that the ammo type question is settled, what about the gun caliber
? This time we tried to answer the questions of which caliber is best and what the real difference is between single and twin
guns.

Test conditions

Still using the ill-fated sitting duck as a target, we designed
a couple of warhawks, each having guns ranging in caliber from .70 to .40. The Punisher was fitted with twin
guns and the Stinger with singles.We then ran a serie of tests with the 8 combination of calibers and gun
numbers.As for the previous tests, the Torpedo was to get wery close to the level-flying Sitting Duck and
shoot him down with a continuous burst. The duration of the burst was measured with a stopwatch, from the time the first bullet
hit was heard till the final destruction of the Sitting Duck. The test was repeated several times for each ammo, and
the results were averaged. However, Rex_Chrome being not equipped with a state-of-the-art stopwatch, the results can be slightly
tainted...SPECS need funding guys :)

The results

Here are the burst timings (in seconds), with the final
averages :

single vs. twin efficiency ratio (%)

single guns

caliber

.40

.50

.60

.70

run 1

7

6

4

4

run 2

6

5

4

3

run 3

7

5

4

3

run 4

7

5

4

4

run 5

7

6

5

3

run 6

7

5

4

3

average

6,8

5,3

4,2

3,3

twin guns

caliber

.40

.50

.60

.70

run 1

4

3

2

2

run 2

4

3

2

2

run 3

4

3

3

2

run 4

4

3

3

2

run 5

5

3

3

2

run 6

5

4

3

2

average

4,3

3,2

2,7

2,0

feel free to downloadour test planes byclicking
on their pictures

the Stinger

the Punisher

the Sitting Duck

caliber

.40

.50

.60

.70

efficiency ratio

58

66

56

65

Conclusions

The single vs twin guns comparison shows the twin mount about
60% more efficient as the single, which tends to indicate that the guys who wrote the manual were talking about another
game...

The .60 and .70 calibers come ahead of the pack in terms of pure
destructive power. However, taking dispersion and accuracy into account, smaller calibers increase the hit probability, so
the .60 caliber may be the best all-around choice, with .50 and .70 still an option depending on your favourite firing distance.

Proudly made by the self-proclamed leaders of the SPECS
(Self-Proclamed Eggheads of Crimson Skies)